London open: Footsie pushes on

17th Mar 2010 08:47

London has pushed on again this morning following strength on Wall Street late yesterday as US interest rates remained on hold.Miners have picked up as the dollar weakened after the decision by the Federal Reserve. Best performers so far include silver miner Fresnillo, Xstrata and ENRC. Aquarius Platinum leads the FTSE 250.Officials from Unite, the union behind the British Airways cabin crew strike due to begin on Saturday, are meeting with members of the powerful US Teamsters union in Washington today. The British are looking for support from America's main transport union, although quite what that will involve is unclear at the moment. Fallers include Wednesday's normal smattering of ex-dividend stocks, with Standard Life and pub group JD Wetherspoon the stand-outs.Military decoy specialist Chemring radioed in a 5% increase in trade during the four months to the end of February at constant currency despite taking a hit from snow storms in both the UK and US.Black cab maker Manganese Bronze is to cease production of bodies and chassis at its Coventry plant with the loss of 60 jobs after more heavy losses in 2009 and further losses forecast this year. The group is also considering a further fund raising to fund vehicle assembly less than a year after it raised £9.4m.Mainland European newspaper publisher Mecom continued to feel the pinch of the global economic crisis last year as advertising revenues slumped. Vehicle hire group Northgate reported an improvement in utilisation rates of its fleets in the four months to 28 February in the UK and Spain. In the UK, it achieved an average utilisation rate of 91% during the period, a 5% improvement on the rate achieved for the same period the previous year.Gaming software specialist Playtech's underlying profits rose by a quarter last year as it got a boost from its joint venture with bookmaker William Hill. Australia's Seeing Machines has won its biggest deal with the mining industry so far after selling its Driver State Sensor (DSS) computer vision product suite to BHP Billiton. The mining giant's Navajo Coal Company and San Juan Coal Company units will fit their entire haul truck fleet and a number of ancillary vehicles with the group's technology.Derwent London, which rents out offices in the capital, remained stuck in the red during 2009, but a "substantial recovery" in central London property values during the second half of the year has continued into 2010.